At the end of each season, The News-Press and Naples Daily News select All-Area teams honoring the best athletes for every varsity sport. Coaches from area schools are sent nomination forms and are asked to nominate and rank their athletes as well as those from other teams. That data combined with our research led to the selection of the All-Area teams.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Daniel Rees
School: St. John Neumann
Year: Senior
Daniel Rees wasn’t going to put up with another injury-plagued season.
A nagging ankle injury limited his play at the start of his junior year. After finally getting healthy, it resurfaced again, largely relegating him to a 3-point shooter.
“That mobility and movement that we had seen in the offseason was pretty much gone his junior year,” St. John Neumann coach Alex Golonka said. “Going into this year, one, he was completely healthy, and two, he also took a huge jump this offseason.
“He’ll leave practice and go to the YMCA and will work out for another two hours. He is someone that will put skill work in until you kick him out of the gym, which is why I think he was so good at scoring at all three levels. He’s just an all-around gym rat, and I think everybody saw that leap he took this year, because of the amount of people who came up to me and said, ‘We knew he was good, but this isn’t the same kid.'”
Rees’ senior season was one to remember, averaging 26.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game to lead the Celtics to the Class 2A-Region 3 semifinals. He is the Southwest Florida Boys Basketball Player for the 2025-26 season, becoming the first Celtic this century to win the award.
“It means a lot,” Rees said. “I’ve put in a lot of work this past year trying to get better, trying to improve my game. It definitely means a lot to receive this. I’m really proud of our team, the work we put in the offseason, all of it worked out in the end, and we were able to go far.”
Question: What did your training regimen look like entering this year?
Rees: I was in the gym five, six days a week and in the weight room four to five days a week.
Was there a specific thing you put an emphasis on this offseason?
Rees: Definitely shooting. We have a shooting machine at St. John Neumann. Definitely getting on that shooting machine, getting up a lot of shots every day. Also, some skill work, ball handling drills, those helped for sure.
What did those improvements do for you on the court?
Rees: You could definitely tell. It wasn’t just me; it was all our team. We put in a lot of work, and it definitely showed the way we were able to beat some really good teams in this area.
How did you adjust to having the primary attention of opposing defenses?
Rees: Definitely getting my teammates involved as much as I could, especially knowing that teams would sometimes put more than one guy on me. But it was relying on my teammates to get me open shots.
Was there a game, whether it was regular season, preseason, summer league, AAU, where things started clicking for you?
Rees: I think it was against Palmetto Ridge. That game I played well. I knew that if I could keep doing that, I knew we would be successful throughout the year.
FIRST TEAM
Robert Ballesteros
School: North Fort Myers
Year: Senior
Highlights: Ballesteros didn’t miss a game for the Red Knights, averaging 19.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 steals per game to help North win a district title and nearly knock out top-seeded Jesuit in the regional quarterfinal round.
Collin Chrzanowski
School: Gulf Coast
Year: Senior
Highlights: Chrzanowski provided value not just as a scorer, but as a rebounder, distributor, and defender. The senior averaged 9.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.0 steals per game to help the Sharks put together their first 20-win season in program history.
Daniel Coldiron
School: Aubrey Rogers
Year: Senior
Highlights: Coldiron was a walking bucket for the Patriots, averaging 24.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per contest. Aubrey Rogers finished 14-14 with a regional quarterfinal appearance in Class 3A.
Deo Downs
School: Lehigh
Year: Junior
Highlights: Downs was Lehigh’s leading scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game while adding 4.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 3.1 steals. The Lightning finished 23-5 with a regional quarterfinal appearance.
Elijah Felix
School: Cape Coral
Year: Senior
Highlights: Felix was a near-consensus First Team selection by area coaches, averaging 16.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game along with 2.1 steals. He shot 53 percent from the field and led Cape Coral to a 23-5 record.
Isaac Loboda
School: Donahue Catholic
Year: Senior
Highlights: Loboda did everything for the Shamrocks, averaging 18.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game to help Donahue Catholic reach the Class 1A-Region 3 final.
Judah Lopez
School: Palmetto Ridge
Year: Junior
Highlights: Lopez emerged as the Bears’ leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest. He added 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game to help Palmetto Ridge finish 19-9.
Julian Rodriguez
School: Gulf Coast
Year: Senior
Highlights: Rodriguez was a tall presence on the interior, averaging 11.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and a block per game to help the Sharks win 21 games. He added 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals.
Mikah Taylor
School: First Baptist
Year: Junior
Highlights: The guard proved his worth over the course of the season, averaging 13 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game to help the Lions reach a regional final in Class 2A-Region 3.
Tim Thurman
School: Lehigh
Year: Junior
Highlights: Thurman was Lehigh’s most efficient player, averaging 13.8 points on 71 percent shooting inside. He added 9.4 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game as an elite rim protector for the Lightning.
Cole Vetor
School: Community School
Year: Sophomore
Highlights: Vetor had a breakout sophomore season for the Seahawks, averaging 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.7 steals per game at the guard spot. He also had 71 3-pointers, which ranked second on the team.
SECOND TEAM
Evan Adams, Palmetto Ridge
Blake Boyd, Lely
Jamari Cobb, Dunbar
Dee Fletcher, Bishop Verot
Hezekiah Jones, Cape Coral
Austin Louzao, Oasis
Zach Louzao, Oasis
Andrew Loveall, First Baptist
EJ McCray, Palmetto Ridge
Lil’Darius Sotomayor, South Fort Myers
Kris Trpevski, St. John Neumann
Jerrahd Williams, LaBelle
HONORABLE MENTION
Aubrey Rogers: Richard Stephenson III, Seth Timmer
Barron Collier: Jayden Milne, Damien Noel
Bishop Verot: Mark Brazley, Julius Calixte
Bonita Springs: Trey Bronson, Ayden Kirkby
Canterbury: Josh Benbenisty, Brayden Grossenbaugh
Cape Coral: Joe Legros, Jordan Rucker
Community School: Jack London, Carter Vetor
Cypress Lake: Jamar Chandler, Derek Cintron
Donahue Catholic: Corban Copeland, Jack Kadlec
Dunbar: Eddie Gore, Kristian Joseph
East Lee County: Brandon Francois, Ehron Gayle
Estero: Andrew Tetrault, Lincoln Zadach
Evangelical Christian: Drew Irwin, Ben Koebel
Everglades City: Louis Billie, Jamere Osceola
First Baptist: Brock Bass-Bonner, Zander Stohl
Fort Myers: Vinny Carbonara, Karsten Schaefer
Gateway: Ezechiel Dorestant, Jason Freeman
Gateway Charter: Aiden Hardy, Cooper LaSalle
Golden Gate: Josh Graham, Stevenson Tanis
Gulf Coast: Reed Franklin-Riashi, Jacobi Sayus
Ida Baker: Daz Anderson, Brendan Slack
Immokalee: Marshon Jackson, Kendrick Perry
LaBelle: Clifford Love, Kaleb Mclymont
Lehigh: Allan Rivera, Malachii Russ
Lely: Branden Baptiste, Jarrett Wilson
Marco Island: Cade Martin, Veleon Nazarko
Mariner: Xavier Gonzalez, Dazarion Jordan
Mason Classical: Eros Lorenzon, Nicholas Noetzel
Naples: Jayden Bracero, Zavier Gildyard
North Fort Myers: Crews Foley, Chance Taylor
Oasis: Carlos Barbara, Jayden Labbe
Palmetto Ridge: Ethan Bates, Gyasi Lewis
Riverdale: Alex Hagan, Matt Loubriel
St. John Neumann: Ryan Chambers, Durant Rees
Seacrest Country Day: Brady Barnaby, Isaac Leon
South Fort Myers: Ayden Gutierrez, Charles Jackson
SFCA: River McDaniel, Kru Voltz
Village School: Zachary Felix, Christian Horvath
COACH OF THE YEAR
Andrew Grillo
School: Gulf Coast
Highlights: The Sharks went unbeaten against local competition under Grillo’s leadership, finishing 21-6 and a perfect 17-0 against teams from Lee and Collier counties. Gulf Coast beat South Fort Myers for the Class 5A-District 12 title and made an appearance in the regional quarterfinals.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Meet the 2026 SW FL Boys Basketball All-Area Team, Player of the Year
Reporting by Alex Martin, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
